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Insurgencies prompting growth in Myanmar drug trade: UN

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says long-running insurgencies in Myanmar's border regions have led to the growth in poppy production and the manufacture of methamphetamine.

Authorities in Myanmar say they are "very concerned" about the rebound, which has forced the country to delay its deadline to eliminate drug production within its border by five years.

"It's instability in the northern districts in the country, up in what's known as the Golden Triangle," said Jeremy Douglas, Southeast Asia and Pacific regional representative at the UNODC.

"It's fuelling some poverty and there are a lot of farmers that their only recourse to livelihood.

"So it's a traditional way of making an income for the people there."

He has told Radio Australia's Connect Asia the growing drug problem is directly linked to long running ethnic insurgencies, including rebellions by ethnic minorities.

"A lot of the groups that are active make some income from the trades," Mr Douglas said.

"So this is both in terms of opium trade but also methamphetamine trade in particular the Shan state which borders China,"

Officials from China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam have gathered in Myanmar for talks on a worsening drugs crisis, which the United Nations has warned poses a threat to public security.

Myanmar's deputy police chief, Zaw Win told delegates that it was "crystal clear that (the) methamphetamine problem is growing rapidly", adding that "more and more international drug syndicates are becoming involved".

A minister-level meeting in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw on Thursday is expected to produce a regional declaration on the issue.

Myanmar is the world's second largest producer of opium, behind Afghanistan.

In 2011, around 5.9 million methamphetamine pills were seized in Myanmar in 2011, double the figure for the previous years, according to UN figures.